Former Olympic gold medal sprinter Marlon Devonish has been hired by Gloucester as the club's new speed coach.

Devonish, who won Olympic gold in the 4x100m relay in 2004, was recruited by strength and conditioning coach Paddy Anson who was impressed with his training techniques.

"I'm going to teach them how to run quickly," Devonish, perhaps obviously, told the Gloucester Echo. "They are a great bunch of guys, really coherent and willing to learn. It's really exciting to work with them and I am expecting them to get a lot quicker. You'll see it on the pitch. These guys will be shining. There is talent there. They will all be running quicker.

"First of all I want to get them to feel it, and see it, and understand why they are doing it wrong, so they can do it right. It's about understanding that, and letting the players implement it."

"The bottom line is Marlon is an expert in speed, he's done it all his life," Anson told the paper. "These rugby players are athletes now, they aren't just rugby players. They're conditioned very highly, so we need world-class experts to deal with the coaching elements."